About

Wardens: A Cosmicist Odyssey is a 1 to 4 player, post-apocalyptic adventure set in a Lovecraftian steampunk universe.

Play as Cthulthu and his legion of Starspawn and spread madness over what is left of humanity, or play as the Wardens team as they face an epic, final journey across a ravished world. Wardens offers great replayability with different types of modes, such as 1 vs All, Solo and Co-op.

In Wardens: A Cosmicist Odyssey you can either play as The Wardens, or as Cthulhu and his Starspawn.

The 2-4 players, 1 vs All mode takes 90-120 minutes to play.

One player takes the role of Cthulhu and controls his legion of Starspawn. Cthulhu doesn't want to kill the Wardens; his desire is to spread madness over them, driving insane the last remnants of humanity.

Cthulhu's Gameplay is focused around strategic movements and unit placement as well as piercing his opponent's mind. Cthulhu travels through various portals across the world from where he strategically summons his Starspawn in order to control territories and battle The Wardens' armies.

Cthulhu is fearless and powerful; he cannot be defeated by simple humans. Beware of his dreadful Starspawn and ghastly Tentacle minions.

As every Warden has their own different characteristics and abilities, each character presents a unique gameplay experience:

Morgana, the Warrior, is more focused on battles with her master assassin ability. She can inflict additional damage to enemies and accumulates war trophies for more reinforcements and she can re-throw the battle tokens. Her ravaging fleet of ships can also use their cannons for ranged attacks.

Kaysar, the Captain, features gameplay more focused on Expeditions. He can re-roll the chance die, accumulate territory cards, and has the ability to exchange them for powerful Prophecy Cards. He can also reveal additional territories and his fleet of Airships can fly across land and oceans.

Selena, the Engineer, must use hidden tunnels to travel across territories in order to repair damaged outposts, gather ancient Blueprints needed to unlock the essential steam and tesla-powered upgrades for the whole team and support her allies in combat with her powerful army of tanks.

Because their actions are so different, they must work as a cohesive team if they want to survive. The Wardens will deploy their designated armies from outposts built strategically across the world, move across territories they control, call reinforcements, use their special abilities, spend distinct free actions, unique masteries and designated pet companion skills to fight the enemy's legion.

Since they cannot defeat Cthulhu, their goal is to find the Artifacts that will awaken the Elders - the only ones who can stop The Great Old One.

At the beginning of the game, Cthulhu hides the Artifacts across the map to prevent the Wardens from awakening the Elders Gods. Each Artifact is empowered with a great force, giving the Wardens unique and powerful abilities.

To find the Artifacts, the Wardens must travel through the broken world and engage in a mind-reading game with Cthulhu using a special fate dial. The Wardens must be very careful during their Expeditions as Cthulhu gets stronger every time they fail.

Once all the Artifacts are found, the Wardens can summon the Elder Gods back to life and finally threaten Cthulhu`s reign.

In Wardens, players resolve battles by engaging in a battle pyramid mini-game, using strategic metal tokens.
Each token represents a different war strategy deciding your fate.

In addition to the tokens, each character has their own battle bonus, which adds an additional layer of intense tactics as you try to outwit your opponent.

Once a Warden reaches their madness limit, they become insane. Cthulhu can then take control of their mind and of their designated armies, corrupting them and turning them against their own for the rest of the game.

When all The Wardens are insane, Cthulhu controls humanity and has won the game.

The Prophecy cards add another dynamic to the gameplay, featuring 20 unique abilities that each player can trigger at any time during the game.
The prophecy cards also include 16 powerful nightmare/prophecy cards that, if drawn, can alter the fate of the game.

Solo/Co-op Mode

The 1-3 player Solo and Co-op modes each take 60-90 minutes to play.In both the Solo and Coop modes of play, you will take the role of the Wardens team and their designated steam-powered armies and travel the world in search of the ancient Artifacts.

Along the journey, you must fight the rising forces of Cthulhu and his growing legion of Starspawn and battle for your sanity in the last fight for the survival of humankind.

The gameplay stays as close as possible as the original 1 vs All mode, so you get the same feel of the game even if you play solo! Cthulhu is automated with a complete AI table.

Wardens is a very different Lovecraftian game from those you are used to seeing. Here, you can actually play as Cthulhu and control his dreadful power over humanity. The other characters are no simple investigators or inspectors; the Wardens are fearless warriors leading fierce steam-powered armies. Once a player goes insane, he is not eliminated from the game; he becomes corrupted and plays for Cthulhu, fighting against his allies until the end of the game.

We've worked on this project for more than two years before preparing the campaign. We travelled across the world for months in a tour to attend multiple gaming events, conventions, playtests, and demo events with different communities from Canada to Asia to Europe.

Wardens has come a long way and we are beyond proud to show you the results.

Of course, this project wouldn't exist without the community and we are asking for your support now so we can make this project a reality. The artwork as you see it now is only a work in progress and will be improved considerably before the production as we aim to deliver a product with extremely well-polished art and detailed miniatures.

If we are funded, we will hire a professional rulebook writer/editor to make sure the rules are clear and easy to understand. Additionally, all the booklets will be designed by a professional graphic designer.

Help us unlock as many stretch goals as possible in order to add more elements such as new cards, additional characters and miniatures, and upgraded components in order to improve the quality of the game. YOU are making this project possible and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Risks and challenges

PRODUCTION RISKS
We are a first time creator and we will do our best to ensure a quality product and a fast production. However, we know that there is always a risk of delays. Supplier shortage, holidays, and weather conditions are just a few of the reasons a production could be delayed. Raven Tales should not be held responsible for delays caused by third parties. The art and design may change until the game gets produced, but we can assure you that we are dedicated to making changes only to upgrade the quality of the game and improve the final product so you can have the best game possible. You will always be informed of potential changes. Furthermore, items shown in this campaign might differ to the final product due to supplier/manufacturer changes.

REFUND POLICY
We generally do not offer refunds unless we are completely unable to deliver the project. We will not offer refunds because of delays in delivery or changes/adjustments to the game's components, layout, etc. or for damaged components that we are able to replace. We will examine any request for a refund separately and will refund only the cases we feel the request for a refund is justified.

MISSING/DAMAGED ITEMS
If you find out that there are items missing after you receive your order, please contact us at info[at]raven-tales.com including photos of what was damaged. We will send you replacements for the missing/damaged items as soon as possible.

DELIVERY DATE
Our current estimation for delivery is December 2019. History has shown, however, that no matter how well you plan things, there is always a chance of delays. Third parties involved with the production of items needed in order to fulfil the campaign may cause unpredictable delays. Also, after sending the packages, further delays may occur due to your local customs office/postal service traffic, which are out of Raven Tales' control.

DELIVERY ADDRESS
After the campaign is over, you will receive a request to complete a survey, including the opportunity to provide your shipping address. Please provide us an address that will be valid around -- . If, after filling out the survey, you wish to alter your shipping address, please send us a message at info[at]raven-tales.com.

UNDELIVERED ITEMS
If a package is not delivered due to an error in information provided by the backer (wrong address, unclaimed package, etc.), the backer may be requested to pay additional shipping fees for the item to be sent again.

UPDATES
Through this campaign you may receive updates on Raven Tales' other upcoming projects. We will only email you with relevant updates.

BY MAKING A PLEDGE ON THIS CAMPAIGN, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED THE RISKS & CHALLENGES STATED IN THIS SECTION.

REST ASSURED THAT, EVEN IF SOMETHING UNPREDICTABLE HAPPENS, WE WILL DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO DELIVER YOU THE BEST POSSIBLE GAME IN EVERY ASPECT!

Please note that all material depicted in this campaign is a work in progress. Various elements and layouts might change until the game is produced.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge CA$ 154 or more
About $115

Collector Edition KS Exclusive / $118USD

This pledge is a Kickstarter Exclusive.
You get the Core Game of Wardens, with all the unlocked stretch goals, plus the Deluxe content:
-Larger, Brass-plated Cthulhu
-Brass Battle Tokens
-Spot UV Logo Box
-Collector Booklet
-Custom Token Bags
-Your name in the Rulebook

Shipping worldwide will be charged after the Campaign via our Pledge Manager